Pastors Preaching Politics?

Free speech in Church?

One sunny morning a few years ago I was working in our newly formed neighborhood garden (Love Community Garden) in downtown Muskegon. As far as Muskegon goes this was the “hood”. 

Forgive my taking the liberty of putting up the following pics as I'm really proud of what we did.

The garden was at the base of a hill upon whose top sat a small clapboard church who’s minister graciously let my friend and I start a community garden in the low area. 

This picture below is not of the church, but is it's "spitting image" other than ours was a lot more run down.  This must be a model the Baptist's used around the country.  Even the sign out front is the same.

We had canvassed our neighbors and found lots of people willing to set up and take care of our 30 some little 4’x8’ raised beds. Each neighbor got one, we didn’t ask what Party they were in. We found suppliers and friends willing to do the work to build the plots and fill them with dirt and the rest was history. It is running to this day.

As I sat there that Sunday in 2008 while tending my own little plot, moving church music wafted down to me. I started listening and as the windows were open this warm summer day I could hear the sermon fairly clear. The minister was extolling the virtues of a Candidate whom could be the first “black President” and how his congregation needed to get out and vote – to do their civic duty and be part of this historic event.

I was reminded that day of the importance sermons from the pulpit had played in helping to form our nation. I had seen old movies of pastors and ministers preaching in favor of freeing ourselves from the yoke of British rule.  Then later about freeing our Society of Slavery.  Years later I took part in a daily re-enactment of the original Boston Tea Party at the Boston the Tea Party Museum. It was in a church and the minister was really a rable-rouser.

Back to the garden in 2008, as I listened to the minister in that little Baptist Church rouse his flock I also remembered that I had little luck in my efforts trying to get local churches of a “Conservative” bent to do anything at all to help with the starting of our Tea Party, and later even with “Right to Life” or anything else related to politics let alone give a sermon in direct support of a candidate.

They told me they were afraid of losing their tax exempt status. The Pastor above Love Community Garden didn’t feel so constrained.

As things turned full circle I read on 2/3/2017 that President Trump went to his first “Prayer Breakfast” in Washington – an annual “must do” for Presidents. While most of the news was all about the President saying he was going to pray for Arnold Schwarzenegger the new host for “the Apprentice” who’s rating have fallen: I could not help jumping on the following quote of Trump. “I will get rid of and totally destroy the Johnson Amendment and allow our representatives of faith to speak freely and without fear of retribution,”.

I see now others have noticed and talk of it is picking up steam. Here is an article from the federalist.

http://thefederalist.com/2017/02/03/trump-is-right-churches-should-be-free-to-express-themselves-politically/

Again to remind myself of the historical importance of the freedom of speech by our religious leaders I did some more digging and came up with somethings I had over looked.

I know of “Patriots Day” I had forgot it was named after the events which happened April 9th, 1775 in Lexington. I had also heard of the “Minutemen” and their “shots fired heard around the world” and through history. What I didn’t know was the specifics I found in the following article.

http://www.westernjournalism.com/has-america-forgotten-about-the-pastors-who-helped-win-our-independence/

One pastor Jonas Clark, was hiding two patriots in his home, Samuel Adams and John Hancock under guard of 12 of Clark’s men. During the confrontation on Lexington Green from which came the “shots heard around the world” another 65 or so of the Pastors congregation formed the Minutemen who stood up to 800 heavily armed British soldiers. Well the rest is history. Though the role religion played in it may have been downplayed.  The importance of Pastors never can.

Here is a quote from the following link.  " One of Clark’s house guests asked him on that night if the Lexington people would fight if necessary. Clark, who had laid a solid foundation concerning the duty of self-defense of inalienable rights for years through his sermons, responded confidently: “I have trained them for this very hour!”

http://providencefoundation.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/Battle-of-Lexington.pdf 

So the shot I heard at Wednesday Prayer Breakfast when President Trump said the following was no surprise.  {…allow our representatives of faith to speak freely and without fear of retribution,”} By getting rid of the Johnson Amendment which threatens any 501C-3 tax exempt organization with the pulling of their exemption if endorsing a political Party or Candidate.

One thing to note all 501C-3s are affected by this Johnson Amendment of the tax code. That would include Universities, Tea Parties and all sorts of enterprises which are titled non-profit. We will have to wait and see if the secret executive order pertains to all 501C-3s or just the religious ones. The article bellows talks of the “executive order” on religious freedom.

http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/donald-trump-pledges-destroy-johnson-amendment-blocking-political/story?id=45221858

It seems from my experience in 2008 and later in life seeing the political left centered teachings in most universities, who they let come and speak etc. at their University, and the labor unions; the law does what the Framers knew laws did, especially lots of laws.

Selective enforcement of those laws soon becomes the norm and the government bodies trying to enforce those laws soon became politicized. Picking and choosing what laws to enforce and upon which groups.

I am of the general opinion that without the Johnson Amendment religious organizations can talk politics as they see fit. Some will talk one way and others will talk the other, some will be in the middle and some may decide to stick to the Scripture and leave it up the individual their political views. Either way the individual still has the right to go to whatever church they see fit - right left or middle or “no-church”.

We picked freedom back then, we should be able to exercise that freedom again.
Which is as it should be.

Regards, Bob Carr
Live Dangerously, Tell the Truth
glhotdogs513@gmail.com
231-728-3455

Politics is Not best Done by Phonies

Politics is Personnel 

I was driving and listening to the car radio. I was channel surfing and saw with dread that the only station left had Glen Beck on. As I pushed that button and started listening I was pleased he had a guest host on and the guest was really great. He wasn’t talking all pie in the sky Conservatism and Religiousness is next to Self Righteousness but instead he was delving into more factual things. He wasn’t lecturing me and telling me what to believe in. Any way I was content to listen. 

 Then I became intrigued. Beck’s host talked about hearing Tucker Carlson interview Mike Rowe.

http://www.theblaze.com/news/2016/12/27/mike-rowe-has-some-choice-words-on-why-the-american-job-market-is-suffering/ 

I had liked the show “Dirty Jobs” and I remembered the host Mike Rowe so I kept listening. I really liked what Mike had to tell Tucker.

That got me digging, Mike Rowe seemed to be talking common sense and I wanted to hear more. I started googling and found that he has a foundation. mikerowesWORKSfoundation

http://profoundlydisconnected.com/foundation/

Wow. Profoundly disconnected. What a turn of a phrase. I kept reading.

Quotes from his foundation web page. “…a public charity that rewards people with a passion to get trained for skilled jobs that actually exist.” “…the country’s dysfunctional relationship with work,”

This is stuff my friends and I have been saying and thinking about for a long time. Here was somebody actually doing something about it.

Next is a You Tube of Mike reading from his preface to his book. If you have the gigs it is worth the read. He captures the job in a narrative picture as close to the real thing as I can imagine. (I would say as close as I would ever want to imagine LOL) 

Near the end he talked about how in his life he had lost his connection to honest work and how he had become not mindful of the miracles of modern plumbing or food production or modern manufacturing because he didn’t have a personal relationship with the people who produced such things. He admitted in effect that he had become a phony and it took wallowing around in the sewer before he realized it. I’m glad he did as otherwise his show would not have lasted 8 years. 

And he wouldn't have learned what he did to tell us his wisdom now.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?list=PL0k1L4404P4-53v3I7f5RlTT0YMOlqPbn&v=pXXrrjSeBpM

Don’t I myself tend to look down on or relegate to old news the enormous amount of work needed to produce light every time I simply flip a switch? Could this whole immigration thing have at its root such a simple thing as our inability to do manual labor anymore? Notice I say our inability not our unwillingness to do manual labor. We are constantly taught from early school on that Americans are no longer willing to do physical labor. I agree with Mike Rowe, we as a society have become spoiled.

Spoiled is not an un-correctable malady. Some friends and I started an inner city garden in the "hood" back in the day and we saved out two raised beds for the kids attending summer class across the street. They first turned up their noses but soon began to love the idea of walking across the street to garden to get their hands dirty to do and be a part of something they did themselves. 

There is a contentment on finds in physical labor, a sense of accomplishment in seeing what you’ve done. A sense of purpose is accomplished through new skills learned and above all a sense of self-worth that cannot be taught with books and talking but by the doing.

What is the problem with a county evolving from doers to one of thinkers and talkers? Isn’t it nice, isn’t it progress to have all these labor saving devices? Isn’t that the American Dream? Do nothing and become rich?

Maybe now it is, but what made this country great was the work ethic. And the lack of that ethic is what is rotting the foundation upon which all else is built. It may not have been going out to the barn every morning to milk the cows that made America great, but without making the connection of getting up at 5am every morning to do it in the winter in a snow storm do you really think someone would have had the motivation to invent the automatic milking machine?  What would be the point?

The real thing here is that we invent or come up with easier ways because they are easier for us the one doing the work. As we lose connection with work do we not also lose the ability to make work easier?

From another source

http://tribunist.com/news/mike-rowe-finally-weighs-in-on-trumps-victory-hillarys-supporters-wont-like-this/

Mike Rowe said the following about the 8 year run of his hit show “Dirty Jobs” and why Trump was able to win the election. “But here’s the thing – Dirty Jobs didn’t resonate because the host was incredibly charming. It wasn’t a hit because it was gross, or irreverent, or funny, or silly, or smart, or terribly clever. Dirty Jobs succeeded because it was authentic. It spoke directly and candidly to a big chunk of the country that non-fiction networks had been completely ignoring. In a very simple way, Dirty Jobs said “Hey – we can see you,” to millions of regular people who had started to feel invisible. Ultimately, that’s why Dirty Jobs ran for eight seasons. And today, that’s also why Donald Trump is the President of the United States.”

Sure we all give lip service to the work ethic and the “dirty jobs” out there, but how often do we actually connect with people who provide those “miracles”? I think it time I start to show some respect for those letting me turn on my lights. Two nights ago my power went out. Luckily it was just before dark. I quickly found some candles and lit them. Well I soon realized how “spoiled” I was. Everything I do in the evening depends on electricity. My TV my computer, my videos and reading. Man by the time I read 10 pages my eyes were aching and I had a stiff neck from holding the book just right to capture enough light from the candle to read and then craning my neck in such a way as to read the page.

Nor is it a matter of the rich not respecting the poor or the working class vs the rich. It is a question of caring vs not caring. Donald Trump is a Billionaire, richer than Hillary but the voters connected with Trump because he simply said “we see you”.  He directly went to where they lived and saw them.  Notice he didn’t fawn over them and make them feel bad so he could offer them free stuff. No he simply went and visited them. He didn’t lecture them. He simply connected the way people do by a smile and an openness and above all being honest.  He was authentic. If there is one thing the public knows to look out for, it's a phony.  They've had plenty of experience.

Mike Rowe wasn’t – Neither was Donald Trump



Regards, Bob Carr
Live Dangerously, Tell the Truth
glhotdogs513@gmail.com
231-728-3455

Nothing to Do ??? BS !!! Look Around. Do it. Part I

This blog is to catch you up on what I've been doing since early Spring, mainly in politics.

There are a lot of pictures to break up the legnth of this post.

There hasn't been much down time in my life as a retired person, I'll tell you that much.

First a recap from just before I moved to Hart till this early spring.

If you know me, you know I'm a transplant from the "Little House in the Hood" of downtown Muskegon, to the "Little House in the Wood" of Oceana County. I've lived here now going on 3 years in a small beautiful house on 20 acres. I really do love it here.

This post is about what I've done as an individual person along with my new friends. I'll let you decide whether what I've done has made a difference.

The first thing I did was to start up a weekly breakfast coffee clutch for conservatives. I did this actually before I moved up to Hart. Our first meeting was at Morat's bakery in Hart at which 4 people including myself showed up. Pictured above. This was a copy of the successful Carmen's Group coffee clutch I and Jim Riley started 2 years prior to that in Downtown Muskegon and if I might add, both are going strong to this date without a break. Muskegon's next meeting will mark 267 consecutive Thursday morning Carmen meetings and 141 consecutive meetings of Hart's Cozy Conservative Corner. This tells me that there is a desire out there for the conservatives to get together.

I always remind myself that if what I do doesn’t catch on, it is because I did it wrong not that there isn’t the desire by the public.

The idea for this “coffee clutch” came from an article Peggy Noonan wrote about how a single guy, Grover Norquist was responsible for the Republican Revolution back when Newt and the boys wondering what to do in the minority. Noonan said it started with Grover setting up a Conservative "Center Right" weekly breakfast in DC and it soon became a focal point for the Angst out there for change. Well I stopped what I was doing and said I can do that where I live. I did, then I moved and did it again.

Our Cozy Conservative Corner in Hart is every Tuesday morning 8:00 AM; at La Fiesta downtown Hart. All are welcome. If you are a conservative socially or otherwise or think you might be, you will be welcomed. Dutch treat of course - we are conservatives after all. The purpose is not to build the Republican party, or the Tea Party or any religious or other conservative thing, the purpose is to gather conservatives over good food and fun to explore what we have in common – and hopefully figure out what to do about it that helps us all.  As they say a rising tide floats all boats.

And here let me be blunt, even hard. The people who fight amongst themselves are cowards. They are too afraid to fight the real enemy, which is the "Organized Left" and simply withdraw to live in a cocoon made up of snappy catch phrases and all the gimmicks of ideologues of the right and the left.

Andrew Breitbart was not such a person; he would wade into it with anyone from the far left and argue with them, as the new terminology goes he demanded the right “Stand their Ground”. The last thing he did was put out a movie “Occupy Unmasked”, in which he debunked the Occupy Movement as a spontaneous affair. He showed how it was run by the unions and how they bussed in people and got all the far left groups together. The best part was footage of him wading into the Occupy LA scene yelling in their faces to “behave yourselves”. The movie is available on Netflix.

Andrew Breitbart had great success; we lost a valiant warrior with his passing.

Well forgive me for diverging, back to what I’ve been doing.

Then through the people I met at both the Cozy Conservative Corner (CCC) and the Oceana County Republican Party, I organized the first ever Oceana Tea Party. I couldn’t have planned it better as the CCC had as its first members, the leadership of the Republican Party and I was the leader of the Tea Party, so it worked out as long as I made sure the meeting didn’t turn into one or the other.

I had great success with the Tea Party and got some great speakers including our State Senator and Representative. We also had a debate with all the 7 candidates for the US Senate in Hart.

I stepped down after a year to set a precedent and the Tea Party is going strong to this date. Below is a picture of our own version of throwing some Tea into “Hart Lake” at our 3rd annual “March to the Park”.

During my tenure as Chair of the Oceana Tea Party I was always pushing the idea of getting into politics at the local level. I called it “Bottom Up Politics” after the name of this blog. At about the time I stepped down, my plans crystallized into running for County Road Commissioner. Below is a pic of my sign and slogan, Put a Carr on the Road --- Commission”.

Below is a pic of me living up to my slogan, as I’m checking out a broken culvert.

I won with the backing of the Republican Party faithful and the friends I made in the Tea Party.

Next came the County Republican Convention at which our long time chair decided to step down and I was the one who filled the vacuum.

Let me make it clear that the reason all this happened was not because I was the sharpest tool in the shed, but because I always tried to think “What can I do today”, not “Who is doing something wrong today”.  I then always followed through and “Jumped in”. I’m a firm believer that we need to start doing and then learn from that experience. No one is perfect and no plan by man is perfect and the only thing that matters in the end is what we do, not what we talked about doing.

To show how interconnected things are; the fact that I first started blogging then the fact that through blogging I met the Muskegon County Clerk whom I volunteered unasked to help in her re-election bid, and all of that got me into the Muskegon Republican party and raised my standing there. The fact that I started the web site for them and this blog and later a 5 county Republican blog helped not only in the Muskegon, but the other surrounding counties of Lake, Mason, Oceana, and Newaygo. then the fact that I started to go to their meetings helped me also. The fact that a State Rep from Hart (100th) decided to run for the Senate in the 34th which included most of the above districts brought him to read a blog I made about the struggles of the East Muskegon Fair. As I was sitting at that picnic table talking with the Pancake makers I got a phone call and it was the State Rep. Goeff Hansen who was just pulling into the area and wanted to know how to get there and that he wanted to meet me.

That was the beginning of my relationship with Senator Hansen. Yes he did win. I like to think I had something to do with it. Like I told him, I would be happy to introduce him around to some of the small shots I knew from blogging but he would have to get to know the big guys himself. It soon became an obbession for me to help him get elected. It was because I was a little dispirited after Karen Bui our Musk. County Clerk lost her election in which I had helped. I was more determined to do what I could to help Goeff over the finish line in first place. I did all I could, including inviting him to Carmen’s Group, to Tea Party Meetings, introduced him to Karen Bui who was the head of the Black Women’s Caucus in Musk. I also introduced him to the owners of the new “Mia and Grace” restaurant and they hit it off as their idea was gourmet “farm to table” and Goeff knew the farm and the grocery business. Also the owner and manager at Carmen’s restaurant fell in love with him.

Between those two races I must have gone to 50 parades sometimes 2 a day, year in and year out.  I've put up yard signs and gone door to door. 

The point I’m making is that all those little things a person does are really very interconnected with each other and they tend to feed off each other if you give them a chance.  First though, you have to take that first step.

Also luck plays a part. It was really just a coincidence that the house I found to buy was in Oceana County. Pure chance, kind of a last ditch shot in the dark.

Now to early spring, the pic below is the last of the ice on my little pond, which over flowed and is just now back within its banks.

Then the next pic reminded me that I live in Mi. as a blizzard happened the next day, but it was winters last gasp and spring had sprung.

Still the annual Ocean Tea Party’s “March to the Park” was a cold affair as we again threw our Tea into the Harbor, well ok Lake.

Below is a pic of Newaygo County Chair Sam Chansler at their Lincoln Day Dinner.

A next pic is of a CCC breakfast.

Next my first asparagus shoot and my roto tiller action in my garden. By now my garden was planted and starting to sprout.

The Hart Parade was also gearing up and I was there to help Senator Hansen and Rep. Bumstead.
Below are pics from that event.

This year is the start of my sixth parade season, Man have I given out a lot of candy. !!! LOL

This marks the end of “Nothing to Do?” Part I. More to follow. Shortly.

So don't tell me there is nothing to do.
Better yet give me a call and I'll hook you up with something to do.

Regards, Live Dangerously Be a Conservative

Virtual Vs Real World

Doing vs. letting others


What we Conservative/Republicans should learn from this election is simple.

We definitely need to get out of our comfort zone.

By that I mean we need to stop continually surrounding ourselves with those who think like we think. I’m an alcoholic and that is exactly what I would do when I was drinking. I would sit in a bar with other drunks and we’d talk of how great things were. Things got worse.

Ask any football coach; sure we need the occasional rah-rah speech and pats on the back but if we really want to win we have to face up to the reality of what is. What went wrong and our part in it. We have to accept that we missed that tackle or dropped that pass, only after that can we see how to get better.  In other words it involves alot of work along with the right attitude.
We have to admit our part in it. More precisely, that what we worked at so hard didn’t work.

I’ve already heard too many people tell me that they did all they could do.

I’ve told myself that. It’s a way to shift the blame, blunt the harshness of the reality that was this election, to make myself feel better. We did work hard, and to some extent our efforts were rewarded. Examples abound but look at this one. President Obama and Andrew Jackson were the only two Presidents in history that won re-election with fewer votes than they received their first time. But Obama was still elected regardless of our efforts.

Maybe it was not that we didn’t spend enough time doing things but that we should have been doing different things, smarter things in different ways.

Our first job is to admit that all the efforts we made didn’t do the trick. This admission opens the door to the possibility that there may be other ways to change things. It then becomes our job to find those better ways.

We need to look at the basics of what we do to try to win elections. As an example that most of us can sympathize with; do we need to make even more robo phone calls or should we look at whether robo calls give us the “bang for the buck” we need and for that matter whether we should be after the bang or the buck?

The title of my blog is Bottom Up Politics and so I turn to what I/we can start to do to immediately change from the bottom rungs of our Party. This is where we have to think out of our comfort zone.

I just today got a call from a lady in another county who was pretty upset with the election both nationally and in her own county. We decided we needed to sit down and brain storm some out of the box ideas on how to change things. That can be a start in our little neck of the woods if we keep to the task at hand and not call up a political analyst to tell us what to do. LOL.

First as with most things, getting back to basics seems, well basic. It is time for us to clear the brain and start putting in new information from the real world. I need to not listen to Beck, Limbaugh, Hannity every day then sit down in the evening to watch Fox. That is a “virtual” reality, I need to get into the real world more. As a Precinct Delegate I need to be getting into my neighborhood more and find out what makes it tick. That is my elected position after all. Simply listening to people is the greatest tool we have. It is a simple way of doing a good thing for others. I am always amazed what valuable information I learn by simply doing that – especially listening to people as people and not just to those who are in my “Political” comfort zone. Doing that has its own rewards, one of which is I start to learn some new facts from which I can create new “out of the box” solutions.

Above all I must realize that I need to keep an open mind and try to base my actions more on the real world than the virtual world.

George Will in the linked article below touched upon this when he talked about the Hispanic vote and the role it played in the last election. Mr. Will also brought up the idea that “Immigration reform” will be the reef President Obama will build which we can wreck our ship upon if we let it.

-----Quote from Will’s Article-----
"Republicans can take some solace from the popular vote. But unless they respond to accelerating demographic changes — and Obama, by pressing immigration reform, can give Republicans a reef on which they can wreck themselves — the 58th presidential election may be like the 57th, only more so."
-----------------------------------
-----link to Mr. Will’s article-----
http://www.jewishworldreview.com/cols/will110812.php3
----------------------------------
How do we do this other than target more robo calls in Spanish to the appropriate addresses?

We simply put our beliefs into action. We don’t talk about how some of our friends are Hispanic or African American. We talk about our beliefs in the strength of the individual. We talk about the greatness of America where anybody can get ahead and how that is slipping away through over regulation and ever expanding government. We need not talk so much about Harry Reid as we do about the local zoning board that won’t let their son and daughter set up a lemonade stand or that they can’t plant a garden in their front yard.

Politics is personal, all politics from National to local. The more personal the contact the bigger the impression will be upon that voter. To turn an old expression upside down – This is personal this is politics, it ain’t business.

Mitt Romney finally seemed to have it right in the end when it was too late, (or perhaps he had it all along and I couldn’t see it through the fog of my virtual reality) when he talked about making our decisions more for the love of Country not so much for the love of self. That was great stuff but if it was played from the beginning it could have been the reef that Obama and the Liberals could have wrecked their ship upon as they tried to make fun of American values, and Romney could have built upon that. Coming as it did at the end was as I said too late.

So after we lick our wounds and begin to realize that though we didn’t win we came closer than the historic model would have predicted. Though we lost the electoral vote handily the actual vote was pretty close. So what do we do next?

The first thing is to change our attitude. Try a smile for a change. Talk of the joy of freedom not the harmful actions of a tyrant. There are others that will do that and the people know that when they see it. Keep a great vision as our bedrock and let the Liberals make fun of that all they want to. Remember we and all people are creatures of habit, and habits die hard. This kind of thing however is labor intensive and is best done a little at a time. Also we are all human and in our day to day squabble to make a living and feed our families, we need to remember to think of the bigger things. When I do make that effort, I’m always amazed at how I feel better. The reward earned by the doing is a righteous reward.

For an eye opener look at the following link which says that voter turnout was down in most every state in this 2012 election vs. 2008. I checked, it was down in mine.

http://www.kypost.com/dpps/news/national/turnout-shaping-up-to-be-lower-than-2008_7991483

From my comfort zone as I prowled the polling precincts election day I was positive turnout was up and the Republicans were turning out in droves to vote. OOOPS.

Welcome to the real world.

Live Dangerously Be A Conservative.

Postscript.


Marco Rubio wrote this piece.

http://www.newsmax.com/Newsfront/marco-rubio-romney-election/2012/11/07/id/463197?s=al&promo_code=109C5-1

Here is a quote from it.

“In the next Congress, I am committed to working on upward mobility policies that will ensure people who work hard and play by the rules can rise above the circumstances of their birth and leave their children better off,” he said in statement Wednesday. “The conservative movement should have particular appeal to people in minority and immigrant communities who are trying to make it, and Republicans need to work harder than ever to communicate our beliefs to them.”

Senator Rubio summed up in a paragraph what I needed 2 pages of fluff to say not quite so well.

Perhaps most more succiently -- We need to get off our High Horse and concentrate on practicing what we preach.

Regards

Time to Blog Again

Time to catch you all up quick like, on what's been happening to me in my new digs.

I am completely inlove with my new surroundings.

My house continues to be a work in progress, but there is progress. Inside I now have with the help of Rob L. a great butcher block counter top and great cabinets under it. The idea is to have a seperate place to store and use all the equipment needed to preserve the harvest from my garden. ie. Prepare and can or freeze it.

Also I've started making bread with a bread machine and that takes up a bunch of space for the machine and the different flours and misc stuff. The job now is to treat and finish the counter top and cabinets but they at least are in place. Downstairs a new freezer and a room remade to hold my electrical and plumbing suppliess works out nicely.

Outside the garden of course continues to get improved. Latest was the addition of 7 sprinkler heads controlled with switches to make it easier. Though my pump can only push one sprinkler head at a time, I can easily switch from one to another by flipping a switch and not have to drag hose and sprinkler around as before.

Also the start of an addition to my barn/shed is framed up but not sheathed or roofed. This will serve as a place to store excess hay and a place to start the baby chics out untill they can be put out into the movable coops. The projects are all in the process of getting done. Also bought a hoop house in the summer and it is still laying there, I guess next year will be the time for that.

I failed in buying the 2 pigs and 50 chickens I had wanted, you guessed it - next year I will do that too. The plan is thought out and the pieces for the pen and coop are already bought, like I said a work in progress but there is continual progress and for that I'm gratefull.

Now to my real love - politics. I stepped down as Tea Party Chair and Andy took up the reigns and the meetings are continuing. I have continued to go to various Tea Party and Republican meetings and helping out when I can.

I'm trying to help out in the Community in general also, lastly I volunteered to help out during Heritage days which is a fundraiser for the Hart Historical society. First night I was the Fish fryer, the second night I along with another was the chief pig cutter upper and what a pig it was! A 300 pounder slowly cooked overnight on a BBQ grill. It was more pulling apart than cutting. The event went over well for the Society and everyone seemed happy, and as far as I know there wasn't one death due to poorly cooked food.

As a bonus, I got all the bones off the pig to take home. I've already made some ham 15 bean soup and my little dog was the proud recipient of a huge left over bone.

The big news I guess along political lines is that I am running for County Road Commissioner. There were two openings on the Board and only one person running. A County Commissioner talked to me about running and I agreed.

Later another candidate threw their hat into the ring as an independent. This is a coounty wide race with 3 people now running to fill two spots. A Republican (Me) a Dem. and an Independent. My plan of attack to win has been to start going to as many of the Township board meetings as I can to meet people and to hear about what they want the Road Commission to do.

As far as campaigning, I've made up business cards and just today put together my first Yard Signs. I could only afford 50 so making sure I put them along busy streets is will be necessary. With 16 townships I hope to put at least 3 in every one. I'll have to be careful as to who gets signs.

It's not if you live but where !!! lol

I have also started stopping by people's houses when I see them out in their yards. Hope this will be enough. I'm sure as the election draws nearer, I will get more paranoid and start working harder. Up till now I've been going to Road Commission meetings, talking with and meeting the other members of the board. I've been gathering info on how the whole thing works. I've been to several worksites and talked with some of the workers out in the garage to get their sense of what needs to be done There is a lot to learn and I'm digging in, during this calm before the storm which will be the election.

Here is an example of what I did yesterday. Went to the Muskegon County Republican HQ to pick up some free wire supports for my yard signs that I had forgotten to pick up Sat. Went up to Ludington after that to see the Mason County HQ and shop at Meijers, this was to try to get something constructive done before going to a Townhall put on by State Reps. Ray Franz and Ken Horn which I wanted to attend. Mr Horn is the head of the State House Energy committee and Ray works with him. The topic was the ballot proposal "25 25" in general and there was a lot of talk about the new windmill farm. There was alot of good inside info on how the government really works from these gentlemen and alot of info from the audience. All but one or two were against that Constitutional Amendment.  I was before I got there but picked up alot of useful info to use when argueing against it.

There is lots of other stuff I'm into and will talk about in later blogs as it comes up. One of the biggies however and perhaps the most important is that I've decided to run for the Chair of the Oceana County Republicans. I've talked with the current chair and alot of others about it and they all think it a good idea. I'm at all the events and have been for a couple of years. I seem to get along with most of the members. I do have leadership experiance with the Tea Parties here and in Musk. I've been learning alot as I go. As the Chair I would finally have the chance to put my ideas into practice. I would look forward to that.

For the Tea Party and the Republican Party, I helped out at both booths in the Oceana County Fair. I also have been working most every day for an hour or so on the Oceana Republican Website. Ross Fitcher the web designer from Dear Path set it up and has been helping me learn the ropes. The website is starting to look pretty good. I still have a lot of current political content to add but doing a little each day seems to work out well.
-----Oceana Republican Website------
http://www.oceanarepublicans.com
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Last but not least the Cozy Conservative Corner which we started even before I moved up is nearing the end of it's second year. Every Tues. morning 8pm at the LaFiesta Restaurant, downtown Hart.

Regards, Live Dangerously Be a Conservative

Limbo

Life Goes On

My life in particular is caught in a state of limbo.

I’m suspended between Muskegon and Oceana Counties.

35 days ago I bought a house in Oceana Co. I gave the sellers 45 days to move out. They said they hoped they would move out sooner. They haven’t. Winter is coming on. My new house needs a lot of work inside and out. As I sit in my old house typing this I don’t know what to do next.

The internet out there is dial up or Hughes net. Hughes Net is a satellite feed, while the speed is almost compatible to my current DSL from Frontier, I will be limited to 200 – 300 megabytes daily, depending on whether I want the $60 or the $70 plan. Ouch. I have Netflix and get movies in the mail that won’t change, but Netflix offers older movies and tv shows for free on demand. I use that a lot, with Hughes net I won’t be able to do that. Bummer. As far as the limits, movies have up to 2000 megabytes each.

I’m wondering if I can still put pictures into my blogs or if I’ll have to post them 1 or 2 a day?

Maybe my next campaign will be to get high speed internet out to the boonies. High Speed without the limits.

The limbo I’m talking about is well illustrated in political terms. Last Monday I went to the Muskegon County GOP Caucus Lunch. Tues I drove up to Hart for the Oceana County GOP Business meeting. After that meeting Oceana held it’s County Convention and elected it’s new leadership. Muskegon will hold theirs later.

Here is the new Republican leadership for Oceana County

Juanita Pierman , County Chair
John Hendrixson, Co Chair
Al Docter Treasurer
Andy Sebolt Secretary

All had previously served in their positions except for one new face.
John Hendrixson was also elected to the Oceana County Road Commission. Congrats to John and all the other members.

I also brought up the idea of ringing the Salvation Army Bell for Christmas as we do in Muskegon. Juanita took charge of that.
Here are a couple pics of the meeting.
click on any pic to enlarge




Another limbo thing is Carmen’s. I went to our 126th consecutive breakfast last Thursday. Rob LaMielle from Oceana came also. He and I finally decided that at least the two of us will have our first “Carmen’s” in Oceana County in Hart at the Moratz Bakery on Main St. katty corner from the County building at 8am Tues. I don’t think this will be our permanent home but it will be a start. We are inviting others.

There are also social things which I’m turning down. One is being a chaperone for a bunch of kids on a bus that Morning Bear and our Love Community Garden is organizing to go to Fruitport’s Old Fashioned Christmas Days Dec 15th and 16th. Bill Cooper’s Dad Ron will be driving the bus. I would here like to thank Marve Engle as being the one who came up with the idea for the Old Fashioned Christmas and has had it on his property since it’s inception. Due to some nasty politics in Fruitport he was squeezed out. I hope the Supervisor of Fruitport doesn’t ruin it.

Hey a little Snark here and a little Snark there and pretty soon we’re talking politics.

I’ll miss this stuff. Where I live there is only 1 precinct in the entire township. Completely rural, a complete set of new community problems I will have to learn.




As far as Carmen’s in Muskegon (my pride and joy), our group is increasing. I counted 15 all together Thurs. Sen. Elect Goeff Hansen came very late as a few of us were walking out the door, but it was good to see him.



Goeff had just returned from Lansing that morning. Wed. was a heavy working day for him as the transition is taking place. The Freshman Senators are all getting assignments and Goeff was pleased that he got to be assistant President Pro Tempore. While not perhaps the most important of positions, it gives him a seat at the leadership table, Sen. Hansen seemed pleased with it.

As I looked through the rest of the leadership Linked below I see some familiar faces that I’ve met through Goeff recent campaign such as Mr. Meekoff and Mr. Booher to name a couple. Goeff should fit right in. Right now Sen. Elect Hansen with his wife and they are preparing for a well deserved and much needed vacation. When asked where they were going, he only said they were headed West and that no one will know where they are going.

-----link-----
http://www.senate.michigan.gov/gop/readarticle.asp?id=3477&District=99
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Well done Goeff.

Mr. Hansen seemed quite tired, yet as we stood outside Carmen’s it became apparent he was excited about the prospects of getting things done. If you remember he was a member of the state house and in the minority with a Democrat Governor, and the Republicans only had a simple majority in the Senate. Today he has a leadership role in the Senate which has a Super majority and with a House of Reps controlled by the Republicans backed up by the weight of a Republican Governor.

Like I said in my previous post Wowdeedowdee.

Regards, Live Dangerously Be A Conservative

PS did I mention what my new kick will be? You know how I love political buttons. Well I coined a new one and will be getting it made at Shirts n Stuff in Cloverville. It’ll simply say “Dump Debbie”. As we get closer to 2012 more people will understand Who Debbie is. LOL.

Three Days of August. Part I

Click on any pics to enlarge

Three days of August. Part I

I have found that if I am serious about politics, there is always something to do and at times hard choices have to be made as to which events to go to and which ones not. These three days of August are THE prime example.

Thursday started out with the 115th regular meeting of our Carmen Group. Along with the regular group Pat and Frank Uriarte were there and later Goeff Hansen dropped by.



After that I checked on my garden plot at Love Community Garden and picked some cherry tomatoes to munch on. Caught up on precinct happenings from Morning Bear, and kept up my search for a home to buy in the precinct. Thursday was a nice peaceful day without a conflict on the schedule.


Friday was when the hard choices had to be made.

For those of you who don’t know me, I’ve been helping out the Goeff Hansen campaign for the 34th state senate seat for around 20 months. I also have been in the Tea Party movement since its inception, recently serving as the Chair of the Muskegon Tea Party.

Conflict #1. Goeff Hansen had one of his major fundraisers; a “Corn Boil” up in Hart starting at 6pm. At the same time there was a caucus for the Tea Party Precinct Delegates in Lansing that night, the night before the State Republican convention. I had been active in promoting Precinct Delegates since before the Tea Party started and as I was a PD I felt my loyalty must be for the Caucus, and the upcoming convention.

Fred Bertsch picked me up around 6pm and off we went to Holt just outside of Lansing. As we pulled up I was happy to see the busses from the “Spending Revolt Tour” run by Americans for Prosperity. I was also glad that Scott Hagerstrom was there. We had become friends on the trip to the Defending the American Dream Summit in DC last year. I signed my name on the bus.





As we came up to the entrance of the building there was a gauntlet formed by candidates and their staffers which we had to run to gain entrance. Everyone was reaching to shake hands and trying to slap campaign stickers on you, it was kind of strange.


Once inside we signed up and old friend Rod Merrill was at our sign in spot. Then we were able to mingle, take pictures and talk with old friends. For those of you in doubt, The Tea Party has grown and kept together to the point that all the candidates were enticed to show up. Rick Synder didn’t show, but as far as I could see all the other ones were there. At the last minute Calley, Rick Synder’s pick for Lt. Governor showed up. This event became the pre convention “ticket to get” in Lansing.





There were over 700 people there all the seats were filled and the walls were covered with the standing room only. The organization of the event however was pretty poor at least in execution; however everyone seemed to put up with it. The sheer numbers that showed up caused some of the problems. That problem of overcrowding as you will see in Part II of this blog foreshadowed the same problems the next day at the State Republican Convention. The Republicans have been around for over 100 years and the Tea Party for 2. They did good.





There was a straw poll taken and that is where the disorganization reared its head highest. Of the 700 there were over 200 voting Precinct Delegates to the State convention. Those were the ones who were allowed to vote in the straw poll. In the straw poll for AG the Tea Party picked Mike Bishop in a tight vote over Bill Shutie . For Secretary of State Ruth Johnson was the overwhelming vote over the 2nd and 3rd place finishers Anne Norlander and Cameron Brown.

Of all the candidates present, Secretary of State candidate Ruth Johnson was the darling of the Tea Party and as you will see at the Convention this translated into a hard fought victory for her. Bob Young the incumbent Supreme Court Judge was not present but he also was the darling of the Tea Party Movement. He has appeared at many Tea Party meetings and his “Rule of Law Court” platform based on the Constitution found loud and overwhelming support within the Tea Party as well as the Republican Party.


The candidate who wasn't a candidate yet, who is also a favorite of the Conservatives and who the following day will take another step along his path in a Reaganesq moment at the State Republican Convention.

Bill Cooper



The pictures I took are with a new SLR camera and I am still learning to use it.

The voting was long and the whole thing took a lot longer than the planners and I thought. Fred dropped me off around 1:30 and I didn’t get to bed until after 2am. I set my alarm for 4am so Fred could pick me up again this time at the Kmart parking lot at 5am. Pat and Frank Uriarte were going with us to the State Convention also.

Hope you enjoy the pics. I’ll be posting Part II which will be about the convention. Lots of insights into the Cooper affair and all else and lots of pics.

Regards, Live Dangerously Be A Conservative